


Tangerines

by cephalopod_groupie



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Feeding, M/M, Quarantine, Tangerines, socialbreachfest2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:01:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24034747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cephalopod_groupie/pseuds/cephalopod_groupie
Summary: Newt and Hermann social distance long enough to move in together and Newt brings an edible gift with him. (Totally ignoring canon, PRU, etc.) This is for #socialbreachfest2020
Relationships: Newton Geiszler & Hermann Gottlieb, Newton Geiszler/Hermann Gottlieb
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25
Collections: Social Breachfest 2020- Collected Fics





	Tangerines

A month passed. Four torturous weeks dragged by like a ball and chain through mud. There was plenty to keep Newton and Hermann busy: clearing out their apartments, organizing their belongings and their workspaces. Newt cataloged his kaiju collections, both plastic and biological samples, did about three month’s worth of laundry, deleted old corrupted digital files, and generally kept himself constantly occupied until he could see Hermann again. Hermann did his best to occupy himself well, getting lost in his endless calculations, disinfecting every single surface in his apartment, alphabetizing his sock drawer by color (and then by length), re-reading _Method of Fluxions_ by Isaac Newton, restocking as much dry goods as store limits would allow, and even starting a small window box. Constant occupation of their time was only interrupted by restless sleep and the occasional video conference that often became saucy. Hermann’s half-hearted protests were obliterated by two things: Hermann’s unrelenting yearning and Newton’s tempting pictures of his shirt unbuttoned revealing his brightly colored chest. One of their conversation-based interactions resulted in the somewhat startling agreement that Newton would move in with Hermann. Soon as they ended the chat, Newton was on a caffeine-fueled campaign to pack everything up until he passed out on his couch at dawn. 

When they both remained in their apartments for the last two weeks of quarantine, having made no contact with a single human being, Newt put on one of his hazmat suits, loaded all his junk into a moving van, and drove to Hermann, somewhat wishing he hadn’t taken an extra anxiety pill or taken a hit from a blunt. He was practically vibrating when he approached Hermann’s door which Hermann opened, his eyes brimming with tears. 

“Newton, my darling.”

Newt stood in the doorway, fighting the urge to tackle Hermann to the ground. Tears burned his eyes and he wiped his wet face roughly. 

“You mean I can really hug you?”

“Yes,” Hermann said, his voice catching. 

Newt walked forward, slowly at first, and then half-leaned on, half wrapped himself around Hermann, sobbing gently. Hermann squeezed the smaller man as hard as he could, the odd crinkling sound of the hazmat suit was the only sound apart from their soft crying. They pulled away sniffing. 

“Can you get this wretched thing off?”

“Yeah,” Newt said, congested from his crying. “Lemme just get all my stuff.”

“That will take ages!”

“Nah.”

“Newton, you cannot do this all in one go! I know how much you have crammed in your little flat.” 

“Okay, okay, I’ll bring up all my personal stuff and then do the rest tomorrow.” 

“Good boy.”

Newton took Hermann’s face in his hands and kissed him deeply. He felt Hermann’s thumbs brush the sides of his own face. He had so missed the exquisitely gentle touch of Hermann’s long-fingered hands. 

“Okay, I’ll be back! Then we can make food and snuggle on the couch.” 

“Just be careful and don’t hurt yourself!” 

“I will!”

Hermann made a quizzical expression and Newt bounced down the hall and down back stairs. After loading and unloading the elevator three times, Newt peeled off his sweaty body out of the hazmat and sat on a stool next to the bar counter. Hermann handed him a glass of water.

“You poor thing,” Hermann sighed. Newton took Hermann’s hand as he continued to drink. He smacked his lips and exhaled. 

“Now, I’ll finish getting dinner ready and you go shower.”

“Thanks, babe.”

“The curry has another twenty minutes in the cooker,” Hermann called out to Newt who disappeared down the hallway. 

“Newt came back into the central room of the apartment, his dark hair heavy with water, his skin fresh and damp, a large Cramps tee hanging loosely on him, and grey joggers gently hugging his legs. Hermann beamed at him. Newt picked up a tangerine from the bad he brought and wrapped an arm around Hermann’s slim waist. 

“Welcome home,” Hermann said softly, looking into Newt’s face. 

Newt smooched him, adding another “thanks, babe.” He brought his other arm around Hermann, leaning his head on the man’s chest. He began to peel the tangerine. After stripping the strings of pith off a segment he held it in front of Hermann’s mouth. With an “oh” Hermann allowed Newt to feed him the segment, its soft flesh sliding between his lips. 

“Gotta make sure you’re getting your vitamin C.”

Hermann touched his forehead to Newt’s.

“I’m so glad you’re safe with me.”

“Come on; let’s sit on the couch so I can feed you some more.”

Newt lead him to the couch, letting Hermann get comfortable before straddling him lap. Hermann was acutely aware that Newt was going commando, and gripped his cane, pushing it deep between the cushions. Newt rolled his hips and removed another segment, gently popping it in Hermann’s mouth. 

“I know you like oranges but I figured you’d like tangerines just as well.”

Hermann finished chewing, put his left hand on the small of Newt’s back and said, “Tangerines are lovely - a bit tangy, and sweeter than oranges.” 

“Good to know,” Newt said discarding some bits of peel on the coffee table behind him. 

“It’s binomial name is citrus tangernia and - ope!”

Newt stopped his mouth with another segment. 

“So this is what you’ve been doing in your spare time: researching citrus fruit?”

“Yes,” Hermann mumbled. “Sort of. I think I prefer tangerines to clementines because clementines are almost too…”

Newt put a segment between his own teeth, leaned forward and fed it to Hermann.

“…sweet.”

Newt shimmied even closer, watching Hermann taste the nutritious fruit. He smiled, brushing a hand gently over Hermann’s cowlick.

“Tell me more.”

“Well, of course, clementines are a hybrid between the willow leaf mandarin and the sweet orange.” 

“Fascinating.” Newt fed Hermann another segment.Hermann chewed some more, watching Newt clean another segment intently. Cool juice burst in his mouth and he swallowed, awaiting the next piece. 

“Here.”

Hermann caught the tip of Newt’s index finger between his lips, a hint of bitter pith met a cluster of his taste buds. 

“Only one left.”

“That makes seven,” Hermann said when he had swallowed again. “I’ve often found there are usually eight segments in a tangerine, but there can be as many as fourteen sometimes.”

“If I’d have known you were this into citrus I would have enrolled you in a fruit of the month club,” Newt said, snuggling a little closer. “Either that or I would have sent you a picture of me lying naked on a pile of oranges.”

“I’d like that in any case,” Hermann said. His voice was rough and lusty. Newt put the last segment in his mouth, the tip of it protruding. He leaned forward again, staring at Hermann’s gash-like mouth, gaping open in anticipation. Hermann licked his lips, watching Newton’s lips and closing his eyes as he felt the the crescent fruit, moist from Newton’s delicious mouth, rest on his tongue. More juices burst in his mouth and he reached down to squeeze Newton’s bum. Newt rolled his hips again and chuckled. 

“Fun fact, sometimes squeezing a tangerine reminds me of squeezing your ba—.”

The pressure cooker beeped deafeningly and they scrambled to the kitchen. After serving up the chicken biryani they sat in the living room enjoying the peace and quiet. 

“Hey, Herm.”

“Yes, love?” 

“Wanna feed me some tangerines soon?”

“So impatient, dear,” Hermann teased.

“You would be too if you had a hard-on all dinner.”

“Come here,” Hermann said, patting the spot on the couch next to him. Newt obliged and cozied up to him. Hermann wrapped an arm around his shoulder and smooched his forehead. Newt rubbed the man’s chest. 

“I’m never gonna stop touching you, now.”

“I think that is a satisfactory arrangement.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Dabney for letting me prattle on about tangerines and math for like an hour or so last night.


End file.
